21 years ago today

We became a parents for the very first time.

After we had come home and fussing parents, midwives and health visitors had departed we were left with a little bundle of joy, responsibility for which was our and ours alone. On that night the task seemed daunting, it still does.

But the operative word is joy. The joy of seeing our bundle to grow up to be a man and his two sisters grow into ladies.

Parenthood is wonderful gift.

Peter Jackson
Thursday 14th October 2010
Peter Jackson
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A hobby horse in a stable

The stable I am in is where my daughter keeps her two ponies, she is tacking up and I am waiting to watch her ride.

My hobby horse is the way hotel brands particularly luxury ones regularly talk about 'the guest experience' as being the thing that differentiates them from others when talking to C&I agencies and they do nothing to explain how they can develop services and products to make it easy for us to do business with them. What they singularly fail to grasp is that:
* Invariably their view of their own brand is an inflated version of the reality
* They don't get to deliver the guest experience if people like me think they are too hard to do business with and we don't include them in the mix.

My daughter is about to get on her pony, so I will get off my hobby horse....

Have a great day



Peter
Peter Jackson
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By the light of the buffet car

I find myself typing this on an early morning train to London. Getting up at four thirty wasn't as harsh as I imagined the night before - what I will be like later on - well who knows. In my minds eye my plan was to get up, dressed and drive down to the station in as semi-concious state - get on the train, jack in my iPod and try and get some sleep in. The major flaw in this plan was that I actually woke up from my slumber relatively easily and the wind on the station raised my concious state to 'fully awake and what can I do now'.

So having found a seat close to the buffet car, correction the PA has just called it an 'express (pun intended I suspect) café ', and typing this entry for something to do as I tried to connect to the outside world using my dongle has proved let's say challenging. So dear readers when I do eventually get to Paddington and post this little missive the post may say 8.00 or 8.15 am, it is actually about ten to six in the morning.

Good morning everyone, wherever you are.

Peter Jackson

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A local tropical condition called 'beetroot'

This is our fifth day in the land called 'Cornwall'. We have noticed many invading tribes with exotic names such as 'Geordie', 'Scouse', 'Cockney" and 'Brummie' additionally a number of marauding 'Germans' known locally as 'sun bed nickers'.

In this strange land there appears to be a daily ritual. Groups of males, bleary eyed from mating dances the night before congregate in little groups at places selling a dish called 'full english breakfast - £3.95' - here they stay boasting about their successes the night before (which always appear to be somewhat embellished from the truth) until such time they feel sufficiently recovered to spend time on the beach sunbathing.

On the first day, after spending sometime on the beach observing the local shows of the males and females diplaying their wares, we all were victims of a local condition called 'beetroot' brought on by prolonged exposure to the sun. It can be quite a painful condition leaving a semi-permanent mark called 'white bits'.

Later today two of our party are going to spend a night along the coast at a place called 'Westward Ho!' to visit the mother of our family guest - Jess.

As I write I am standing on a long sandy beach keeping a watchful eye on my two daughters as the bodyboard in the rolling waters - they tell me to keep my distance as they try and snare a near mythical beast called 'a surfer with a modest ego'. We shall see....

P
Peter Jackson
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N day is here

Our journey South was tough, battling along the track with weekend gypsies on their annual migration to the far south west lands, across the mighty rivers of Severn, Avon, Exe and Tamar.

We rested for a while to take sustenance in the moor top town of Bodmin paying a tribute of £1.20 for each of our vehicles which was paid to the local chef called 'Bodmin Town Council'.

We arrived in Newquay and found our lodgings with the help of a satellite link. The team celebrated with a refreshing drink in an outpost of the Australian colony in a bar called 'Walkabout'

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. N day is all but complete, sleep well my fellow adventurers


P
Peter Jackson
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N day minus one

N day is just a few hours away. The provisions have been checked and stashed. Last minute preparations almost complete.

We are lucky to have satellite time to aid our navigation. Not like the old days of AA road maps and guess work around the by-passes of county cities.

Everyone on the expedition is both expectant and anxious. For me I am concerned about crossing the contested border between the ancient kingdoms of Devon and Cornwall. I have tales of barrages of cream teas lining the shores of the Tamar River, holding back the hoards of Pasty's on the other side waiting, waiting to cross the river and invade Devon. We have planned our crossing of the border to the North at checkpoint A30. I am hopeful it go well.

We start tomorrow at 0800, wish us luck - God Save the Queen.

P
Peter Jackson
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Fw: Planning the expedition

------Original Message------
To: Blogger A Brit on the road
Subject: Planning the expedition
Sent: 22 Jul 2010 23:04

Tomorrow we start to plan the expedition to the land that time forgot. We have a basic outline - a 2 vehicle party tied together for safety sake by a mobile phone link.

We hear of stories of a great migration that occurs each July that will slow down our journey along the mighty track known for many 100's of years as the Fosse Way, in the great era of the Morris Minor as the A38 and in relative modern times as the M5.

As a family we have trying acclimatise to local conditions. On Monday I re-aquainted myself with a local delicacy. To do so I had to travel to the end of a great trading route and visit an outpost called 'Paddington' to sample the dish known as a 'pasty'. Tom has been sampling a well known fertility drink called 'cider' - it would appear any man that drinks it feels larger and braver and any women folk who quench their thirst with this drink are more likely to partake in the ancient ritual of 'dropping knickers' which as we know is the start of a mating ritual.

Come back to hear of stories of pirates, dancers on the water in a place called 'Finstral Beach' and other tales of the ancient land of 'Cornwall'




Peter Jackson
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The sun has got it's hat on

It is at times like this, with the sun high in the sky, a gentle breeze and the faint whoosh of the burner from a hot air balloon when you realise that being tied to a desk, in the corner of a stuffy office, wrestling with web copy for an incentive programme that probably something is not quite right.

Rough work clothes may have been exchanged for chino's and a polo, a screwdriver for a mouse and the shop floor of a factory for a converted farm building nestling in the middle of the English countryside, the effective situation is the same - working for a living and not creating sufficient wealth to be able to choose to not be tied to a desk when the sun has got its hat on.

Apart from six magic numbers is there a road out? Probably not for me, although we can still try to find the silver bullet of an idea that will free the shackles and lift us out of the poverty of little free personal time. Of course this kind of poverty is not the poverty of previous generations, there is a roof over our heads, food on the table and work. To be able to talk about the poverty of free personal time is a sign of progress of our society as a whole however it does not help when the sun has it's hat on and I am tied to a desk as I was on a glorious Friday afternoon yesterday.

So, silver bullet aside, what is there to drive me on? Of course it can only be one thing.....to deliver as pleasant as life as possible for me and my wife and to try...to try as hard as I can (and like any parent) to deliver the life that has escaped me for my three children.

In the meantime as I write this from the reception area of a tyre place, I will in the next few minutes swallow hard, shrug my shoulders and cough up the £180+ for 3 new tyres and just get on with life.

P
5th June 2010

Ashes to Ashes

Not been writing for a while....sorry about that.

To paraphrase a well known - and very old - football song.....it's all gone quiet up there.

It shows the fragility of the world in which we live that an icelandic volcano can bring most of Europe to a thundering stop. The inter-connectivity of our human society is laid bare in these circumstances. Whilst the myriad of different ways countries are tied together is great for maintaining peace and security - it's kinda hard to wage war on people you are trying to flog stuff to - when one bit breaks we all feel the fall out - sorry pun intended.

Our group that was due to fly to Marrakech today and tomorrow have decided to postpone to June. It was a good call and the client heeded our advice. As it transpires any hope of travelling this week they had yesterday would have been dashed today.

So Gene had better fire up the Quattro...it seems to be the only ride in town

P

Peter Jackson
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Friday afternoon....blowing up the Four Seasons Lisbon

There are many things that brings focus to your life. Clients changing their terms from 30-60 days to 60-90 days is one of them. A friend on hearing this said 'can they get away with that' and the answer is (nearly in the words of the President of the USA) is of course 'yes they can'.

It is at times like this the false allure of the National Lottery comes to mind, that said might have an extra quid this week just in case, and I really must get down on paper the ideas for the book, my apologies for friends in Lisbon but in the final scene the Four Seasons is blown up - darn that's the ending revealed going to have to change it now.

I remember years ago being on a train from Zurich to Geneva talking to a Sales Manager from Caterpillar about 3 ideas for 3 different books that I had. Still have the ideas....still haven't written very much down. Oh well need to make a bit of cash and then perhaps I will have the time to do so.

Before that I can do that there is the aged debtors report to look over.

Have a great weekend campers.

P

Not hitting a barn door

Helen has passed her test, which is great news for her and great news for me, Carol and our cars. Not so good news for the rest of the world as Helen unleashes herself on an unsuspecting world. When I have been in the car with her I have always felt quite safe, so for the moment I have every of her confidence in her avoiding any barn doors - I know it's an horrible metaphor but please stay with it.

Not being able a bar door, or doing so by complete accident is a challenge that keeps going around in my head. Having attended lots of different trade shows and seeing the masses of people circulating trying to make contact, having taken meeting after meeting from Hotels, DMC's and Rep companies, having been deluged by hundreds if not thousands of emails it seems to me the chances of an individual property or dmc or destination of being in the right place at the right time to be considered a likely candidate to receive a brief is as likely as well......hitting a barn door in a Ford Ka in downtown Worcester.

So what is the answer? In reality what it should be is what are the questions?

* How do you ensure you are front of mind when solutions are being considered?
* What are the factors for developing a solution? How can they be influenced?
* How long is it from initial idea to a locked down proposal? What is the window of opportunity to secure a seat at the table?
* How do you access the people that take decisions and the people that influence?
* What should be invested for what return?
* What is the marginal value of different types of business?

Lots of questions and there will be more. Let's try and work out some answers.....

P
Peter Jackson
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From a distance

I'm back

Back in the UK and like a lot of trips after piling through a huge pile of emails my trip down under now already a memory.

It is perhaps now in the cold light of day - and it is cold in the UK, had to defrost my car this morning - a good time to consider the best way to use the destination.

Without doubt Australia is a tool to be used to reward people who deliver an ultimate performance - the investment and time to get someone there is more than significant and this shapes what we need to do with them once they are there.

Creating a programme therefore needs about reinforcing the sense of place, a sense of guests understanding the joy of their achievement. We need to tick boxes and keep ticking them - so Bridge Climb, lunch at Opera House, Harley's to Bondi, Dinner in the Tower are all big yes's.

What we need to manage is how to make the bits in between also special and special to the individual (without busting the budget) . We already try to create space for 'free time' in programme structures to allow people to explore in their own friendship groups. We also make many more guides available than normal to try and deliver a more personalised experience - what would be really cool would be to try and find a way for people not to be shown the city by 'guides' but to 'hook up' with like minded people who show them the city more as a 'mate' rather than a 'guide' - the closest I have experienced is in Montreal where a (ok it was) guide took us to a place in the city where he used to buy his morning bagels when he was at Uni in the city - it made the experience more personal - we became a part of the experience rather than spectators.

The Australian people are open and warm, here probably more than anywhere else in the world it should be possible to achieve this goal.

What we can't have is anything that is mediocre or can be found elsewhere in the world (and much closer to home) - so a fancy aquarium - no, having breakfast with Koala's - yes.

From a distance Australia is a long way with many amazing places to see in between, it is a big ask to get people to go - the journey has to be worth while - an ultimate destination for ultimate performance.

Peter

The final word for this trip

As long as they are not playing us at sport, Aussies are a great people living in a great country, I would like to share my enthusiasm and return with a group soon - without doubt to Sydney first and tick that particular box for everyone that travels with me.

P
Peter Jackson
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A long road home

Sitting in Sydney airport having spent just spent a further $96.35 on stuff to make me feel better about spending nearly 2 weeks away from home I am wondering what I have learnt from my trip.

I guess in reverse order from my experience I have learned that Brits who move here are torn between a love for the 'home country' and justifying to anyone who will listen - but I suspect to themselves why Australia is such a great place - which it in truth it is if you are prepared to cut yourself virtually off (to all practical sense) from your heritage - to look forward-not back.

As an aside people a number who I know who have spent many years working overseas have never settled very well when they have returned home and either have shuttled between 'home' and their 'adopted home' who wandered from various outposts of Empire seeking salvation.

I have learned that whilst Melbourne is a great city with lots going for it that without iconic locations such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge ultimately it always will be second best to its noisy neighbour in Sydney. If anyone can provide a single compelling reason why someone should go to Melbourne as opposed to any other great cities around the world let me know.

I learned that climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and having nothing between you and a four and half second drop to a spectacular watery grave except for a thin metal grid and a steel cable holding you to another cable is not as scary as I thought.

I learned that whilst I retain the capacity to engage with anyone in a group - and I experienced at least three different groups on this trip-find common ground and hold a conversation to pass the time, when the hotel door closes you are still a very long way from home.

I learned that Aussies serve their beer far too cold, the only reference scale they understand is 'Southern Hemisphere', Sky News Australia is capable of putting a lost dog in front of murder and mayhem in Iraq, that there is a growing population of people from south and south east asia moving into the country which is becoming a growing 'issue'. I learned that Australians get a little spooked by the Brit greeting 'alright?', not every one is called Bruce or Sheila - but I did come across a few Jason's and Kylie's...ok I made that up.

I learned that once you start a journey home the only thing you want to do is get there as soon as possible, so when the girl on check in said the flight was over booked and I was on standby that despite putting on a brave 'I can roll with the flow' face my heart sank at the prospect of another day away from home.

Can Australia work as an incentive destination? Yes it can. It is the ultimate destination for the ultimate performance.

They got me on the flight, so night night new friends in HK, Australia and NZ and good morning to friends and family at home and around Europe.

P

Peter Jackson
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Hello me

One of the challenges of doing this kind of work is despite being with lots of different people all of the time you have to be comfortable with your own company. It is rare to have a really substantive conversation with anyone.

As a case in point it is now ten past four on a Saturday afternoon and having wandered around central Sydney by myself fretting on what to take home for the family I am now in a bar drinking a cold one as a treat for myself for having decided what I wanted to buy wife and then taking the plunge and buying her a handbag - a girl can never have too many handbags or shoes, but buying shoes would be a big ask.

Before anyone feels any degree of sympathy if I poke my head out the door and look left I can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge which I did climb the day before yesterday.

Finally the weather has turned good and I can now understand why Aussie's have their beer so cold.......

The last few days have been a little strange, normally at such events I am much more towards the centre knowing people or knowing people who know people, here that is not the case and in a group I smile politely as old contacts greet each other.

They say over 30% of the people that live in Sydney wasn't born in Australia which I can believe. I was just served by a lady approaching more senior years with the broadest of accents who said she was born in Leeds. I have had many similar conversations in the last few days.

This morning we went to the Town Hall which has newly re-opened after a 2 year refurbishment. To celebrate this re-birth there is an exhibition of it's history which includes very prominently and with huge deference imagery and stories around visits by the Queen. My french owned hotel has a huge picture of Princess Diana who used the hotel to 'freshen up' and not even stay. The Queen Victoria Building, an old market hall has been commented on with some fondness and whilst many Australians who have spoken to us has taken the michael a little bit about convicts, sporting victories and our awful weather I detect two things, Australians are enormously proud of their country - the Qantas flight coming up from Melbourne showed a video of the national team returning from the last Olympics showing the emotion of the team and welcoming families, the national flag and competitors with their medals. I suspect even if BA were to do anything similar it would not pull on the heart strings like the Qantas tape.

I also firmly believe that very many Australians are proud of their connections to the 'old country' whilst the fact they were talking to a Brit ie me which may colour this impression I can understand whilst the chattering classes may be interested in breaking its remaining official ties with Britain but I don't think there is any significant appetite to do so by 'regular' people.

In the last hour I have spoken 12 words - 'pint of Carlton draught please, thanks' (twice), to which I will soon add a further 2 'thanks mate' as I leave the bar to go back to the hotel to pack for my next adventure.

P

Peter Jackson
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I see ships

So today was very much a tick the box day. Climbed to the very top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.....a fantastic experience and of course I bought the t shirt.

The pre-climb prep doesn't do a lot to ease any apprehension. They make you take off any watches, bracelets and ear rings; they suit you up and put harnesses on you, prescription glasses and hats are held in place with clips and lanyards and of course you sign your life away.

The climb is both spectacular and a little scary. In some ways going up was easier than coming down; as you climbed you just looked up and concentrated on getting the plastic shuttle that anchored you safety rope to the safety line going all the way up and down on the bridge. The more scary experience was coming back down as you could see through the gaps of the metal honeycombed floors down to the water below.

Our 'Bridge Climb Leader' told us all the facts; x zillion rivets, 15000 people worked on the bridge - 7 fell, six died (some one lived!), the one fact that did register is that if you did fall it would take 4.5 seconds for you to splatter on the concrete or water.

The views from the top were of course just simply amazing. The ships and boats looked so small and our viewpoint was like the kind of shot that you might have for an opening sequence of a big budget movie - a huge panorama of the city within which the slow passage of expensive sailing yachts crossing the bay.

Today has been a very different day to the last couple. A new group of people to break in, none of who at the moment appear to be wildly fun unlike the ex-pats I have been socialising with the last couple of days. Brits who work and live abroad have a very (well the one's I know) tend to have a fantastically funny love/hate relationship with the territories and people in the countries that provide them with a home and a living.

So here I am at 11.15pm at night in a bland hotel lobby bar drinking a dark beer that is far too cold by myself. How sad is that. To be fair however I am also now feeling a little sleepy so as soon as I finish the beer I am off to bed....

Night night everyone.

P
Peter Jackson
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Day Eight and the natives are getting friendly

Well when I say friendly I actually mean chatty, which is ok as talking to people is why I am here.

With 15/16 appointments done yesterday and several other off the cuff encounters and the same again today when I get on my flight to Sydney tomorrow I think I shall be jacking into my iPod and closing my eyes.

So as most people I know in life are settling down for the evening I am sat on a pavement cafe in Melbourne and it's already tomorrow....very weird.

From the wrong end of a cricket pitch or rugby ground Aussies have always been the no 1 rival. If the world always delights at beating Britain in general and England in particular at anything from football to dwarf throwing we (the English) always want to beat Australia over virtually anyone - apart from Germany at football. So from a distance the Aussie nation has always been 'the enemy'. Reality is of course different and I am enjoying my time meeting and talking to people here. As Bill Bryson says in his book on the country Aussies are naturally engaging, friendly and fun to be with.

There is one aspect of their collective personality which is interesting is the reference to scale (biggest in city...state...country). The interesting bit is what comes after country; what appears to be the case is that uniformly people refer to 'the southern hemisphere'. Now I am not really sure what they really mean by this as I see very little evidence of people knowing what is going on in South America so I suspect in this context 'southern hemisphere' actually refers to Australia, New Zealand. South Africa and at a push SE Asia. I have not come across any referencing on a global scale - probably why is that it sounds a lot better to be 1st or 2nd largest in the southern hemisphere rather that 83rd in the world. Then again that maybe just my old world perspective.

Nice breakfast at a riverside cafe, day eight and 16 appoints awaits!

P
Peter Jackson
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Racing bikes and titchy penguins

Nearly midnight and an opportunity to look back at the day.

Didn't start off paricularly interesting with a visit to a Botanical Garden and a little chocolate factory/visitor attraction - but did it improve from there. We went to have a look at the race track on Philip Island. No these places can be pretty boring when not in use - huge areas of nothingness, empty rooms, pits, hospi areas etc. But not today - today was qualifying for the World Super Bikes Championship - so we was treated to watching from the pit lane roof bikes steaming down the home straight at over 200mph. Noisy and impressive - then after a quick trip to a smaller winery, a visitor attraction overlooking what is in effect the Southern Ocean (next stop the South Pole, and a early dinner we went to see something call the the Penguin parade.

Basically what happens is that each night 100's if not 1000's of penguins leave the sea for the day, cross the beach and disappear into the undegrowth and their nests. These penguins are really small, maybe 12-18 inches high and the cross several 100m of beach and dunes. What is really interesting is that this spectacle has been turned into a tourist attraction with a timed countdown as to when the birds will appear. I can only guess the pop up from the water at the turn of a tide to get the timing so precise. These guys are really cute as the waddled within a few feet of where I was standing.

So the day is finally beginning to catch up on me so time for bed. Due to do a helicopter flight tomorrow, learn to cook tapas and then back to Melbourne.

Night night fair world

P

There's trouble in the distance

I am sat in the window of my hotel room at Melbourne airport, it is 0645 and I have been up an hour after a good nights sleep.

Dawn has broken and the light beginning to break through. In front of me are some huge and mostly empty multi story car parks advertising 'shaded parking'. Fortunately I am on the 9th floor so I can see beyond and across the flat plain to see the city skyscrapers clustered on the horizon in one direction and some far off hills in another.

So having sorted my walking around bag to put suntan lotion in which I forgot to yesterday, re-packed and put away my jacket what am I being entertained with? A huge storm hanging over the city with enormous bursts of fork lightning which look like they could split a building in two. Oh well a quick adjustment is needed in my preparation for the day.

See you soon



Peter
Peter Jackson
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Plastic knife and metal fork

So I am sat on a commuter train on my way back to central Melbourne pondering the logic of Qantas serving meals with a plastic knife and a metal fork, and spoon for that matter.

I would have loved to be in the meeting to see how that piece of nonsensical logic was arrived at. Seems a bit mad to me.

First day in Australia, got off to a positive start getting off the plane and out of the airport was straightforward enough, not being able to access a bedroom was a bit of a pain. A quick shower in the gym, change of clothes was all I needed to get going again (oh yes 2 coffees).

Into town with a couple of people for a look around, bright day not too warm looking around. The city looks quite pleasant, an interesting mix of old and new buildings. The older ones older than I imagined for some reason don't know why. Came across a couple of tailoring shops called 'Peter Jackson', thought about trying the 'what discount do I get for having the same name routine' however my shopping priorities are elsewhere so I left it.

Why am I on a commuter train? Well a family from the village came out to live here a couple of years ago and the lady of the household is on my facebook, so when she facebooked me this morning to say she was around today it made total sense to jump on a local train to go and say hello....so after having a quick drive around a stunningly beautiful peninsula and a quick cup of tea and sandwich with Lisa and her daughter Kim who grew up together, went to pre-school, primary and secondary school with my son Tom I am now on my way back.

It's now somewhat warmer-probably around 30 but I think I will still have a little more of a wander around to see if I can realise some of the shopping priorities.......

So back to plastic knives etc. Long haul flights are very solitary affairs, get on the plane, settle into seat, position ipod, e book, passport etc, have first glass of champagne, watch safety instruction, choose which film you are going to watch, nod off for a few minutes - miss take off, start film, have another drink, eat dinner, watch end of film, try and go to sleep.

If you stare intently at your screen and only provide single word answers ('beer', 'chicken', 'white', 'French' 'thank you' (ok technically that's two) you can probably do a complete 12 hour flight and speak less than dozen words to anyone the whole flight.

There is a sense of being disconnected from anything and everything when on such a flight. When I got to Singapore I must have sent 10/12 emails and 1/2 dozen texts in very short order just to get in touch with my own world.

Still can't get my head around plastic knives and metal forks - time to go however so will think on a little further. Bye for now.

P
Peter Jackson
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Three more sleeps

It's Sunday morning and like most Sunday mornings I am on the field walking the dog. Well the dog is of course walking himself.

At some point in the next 20 mins Bailey Baloo will spot something of huge interest and he and I will have a difference of opinion over what constitutes 'master' and 'mans best friend'.

This picture of normality is going to change after 3 more sleeps as on Wednesday I venture on my longest journey yet to place known as 'Down Under'.

Unlike some of my friends who work away for several months at a time my trips tend to be measured in hours and days. Not this time however as I am away for two weeks. It will be strange being away for so long.

Anyway after 3 more sleeps I am on my way.

P
Peter Jackson
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Gone pass Go

Arrived at the Jurys Inn on Pentonville Road on the edge of Islington (light blue on the board if I remember correctly), the fact it is a low ticket street on a Monopoly Board gives you an idea how I felt carrying overnight and laptop bags....

Last time I stayed in this area was at a Travelodge close by and we went to sleep to the sound of whoop whoops going down the main road and the sound of empty bottle troughs being emptied.

It has been a while since my last blog. Why now....well two things, I am posting this by email and therefore a bit of a test and secondly to get back into the habit of doing posts - next month I am going to Australia and if that is not a great opportunity to share my impressions I am not sure what would be.

So what of Jurys Inn? Well my room has a single and a double - not sure about that and whilst sat in the bar with a colleague a small group came into the bar and promptly ordered pizzas to be delivered - you can't help thinking the hotel has missed an opportunity.

So as a test I think I have reached an end, and I hope the technology works.

Night, night

Peter
Peter Jackson